Floating parade to herald Paris Olympics, India will strive to improve Tokyo tally

Paris [France], July 25 (ANI): The Paris Olympics 2024 will kick off on Friday with the opening ceremony to be held on the Seine River.

The opening ceremony will begin at 11:00 pm IST. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, the opening ceremony will not take place inside a stadium. The traditional Parade of Nations will take place along the Seine River, which flows through the heart of the historic French capital.

In the ceremony, over 10,000 Olympic athletes will be travelling in around 100 boats that will cruise through the Seine and pass through some of Paris’ iconic destinations, including the Notre Dame, Pont des Arts, Pont Neuf and more.

The floating parade will leave from the Austerlitz bridge beside the Jardin des Plantes and end at the Trocadero, where the remaining elements of Olympic protocol and the final shows will take place. The program is scheduled to last more than three hours.

Thomas Jolly, a French theatre director and actor, is overseeing the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies as artistic director.

Badminton star PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, and table tennis veteran Sharath Kamal, set to feature in his fifth Olympics, will lead the Indian contingent at the Paris 2024 Parade of Nations.

Both will become the first athletes from their respective sports to be India’s flag-bearers at such a big event

A 29-member athletics team led by Neeraj Chopra forms a large chunk of the contingent that will be travelling to France for the Olympics. There will also be a 21-member-strong shooting contingent, which will be the second-largest team sent by India for any sport at Paris 2024. This is the biggest shooting team India has sent in its Olympic history, with 15 shooters sent during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, as per Olympics.com.

The archers competing in Paris include stars like Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai. They will be competing in the individual ranking rounds on July 25 and will be the first Indians in action, prior to the opening ceremony scheduled for the next day.

India will be getting their first shot at a medal during the mixed team air rifle medal matches scheduled for July 27 at the National Shooting Centre in Chateauroux. Two Indian teams, Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal, will be competing in this event. Manu Bhaker will compete in two individual pistol events and the 10 m air pistol mixed team competition as well.

The star of the show, the reigning Olympic and World champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, will be in action in August. The qualifiers for the men’s javelin throw event will take place on July 6 and the final will take place two days later. Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu will be aiming to make it a hat-trick of medals during badminton events scheduled from July 27 to August 5.

Tokyo 2020 silver medalist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu will be in action in the women’s 49 kg category competition scheduled for August 7, the release added.

Lovlina Borgohain, who secured a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics will be in action during the boxing events starting on July 27 and concluding on August 10. Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen is all set to make her Olympic debut as a huge medal prospect for Team India.

The 16 sports India will be competing in during Paris 2024 are: archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis and tennis.

The Olympics will conclude on August 11. India will look to outdo its tally of seven medals from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which included a gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.

Indian viewers can watch the premier sports event on the Sports18 1 SD and Sports18 1 HD TV channels. Live streaming of the Paris 2024 Olympics will be available on Jio Cinema for free, as per Olympics.com.